Tarell Alvin McCraney On
The Brother/Sister Plays
There were days I thought I was born into a third world country. Partly from
overzealous imagination, but also from the scarce ability to keep running water in
our home coupled with the battle to keep the rampant rodents that plagued our
project from chomping into my baby sister. I was not in Port Au Prince nor a slum
outside Rio de Janeiro, but the languages and songs and foods outside my
doorstep were of French Creole cadence and Afro-Spanish malaise. I was still in
an American city.
I was brought up near the tropic of Capricorn, hurricanes common as mosquito
bites. Sea breezes strong enough to send you sailing and starry nights that made
the voyages of Columbus seem distant and not yet present. Yet there in the
midst of that beauty were drug lords who ran the street corner like Wall Street
and Beirut combined.
I lived in the other America; the America that doesn’t always get depicted in the
cinema. The America that we are told to pretend isn’t there. And in an attempt to
create theater that told untold stories, that gave voice to another half of America,
I created The Brother/Sister Plays.
Theater as community
My first building block of theatrical understanding came from watching my
grandfather preach. It was the way the crowd hollered at my granddaddy when
he would pause. When he would tell them they didn't want to hear the rest, they
would shout, “preach on.” The drums and the organs of the church began to
catch his rhythm, my grandfather acting out portions of the piece and the church
re-seeing what he described and singing and moaning and crying until they all
were on the same accord.
This is theater as community. It is holy theater not because it exalts something
on high, but because for the hour or so on stage the audience and actor are one
and all those people, though each seeing it slightly differently, are believing—
following the same course or going on a journey together. In The Brother/Sister
Plays, I have tried, through language, content and format, to invigorate the
communal portion of the plays. The actors speak stage directions that invite the
audience to remember that they are in a theater and that the story that is being
told is for them and to feel free to call and respond back. Truly, in a world where
stories are told in many beautiful and spectacular ways the live theater still has
the powerful construct of communal journey, communal belief, community.
Theater as ritual
When the slaves of the New World were forced into Christianity, many-especially in places such as Haiti, Brazil, Cuba and New Orleans—mixed in their
home religion and kept practice of their old ways with the European new. Their
stories are complex, not good versus evil, but good and evil at the same time.
Life is good, but so is death. Radiantly beautiful is bad, but so too is ugly.
The Archetypes of these deities were worn on my friends like sleeves. I began to
investigate how to use ancient myths, stories, to tell urban ones. I found that the
stories are all still there. So I began taking old stories from the canon of the
Yoruba and splicing them, placing them down in a mythological Housing Project
in the South. This made the stories feel both old and new, as if they stood on an
ancient history but were exploring the here and now. I mixed in lore and theatrical
devices from the Greeks, from Spanish Lorca, from Jacobean England.
This ritual is not new. In order to make the pyramids which stand still today
slaves were made to mix the mortar of old shards of pots, clay bowls in with the
new hay, water and sand because that mixture of old and new created something
stronger. Something else. The ritual onstage is taking these very old stories,
archetypes, myths, and even rumors, and playing them out with new voices, new
bodies, set in new and present times. Hoping to create evenings that make
something powerful, something distant yet present, something… else.
Theater as remembrance
The Yoruba believe that when evoking the spirit of the Gods in the space, the
goal is not to fully become the deity and lose self, but rather to become oneself
more fully and therefore evoke the god in you. It is a great practice of mine that
actors never forget that they are actors always, creating theater, telling stories for
an audience and that they themselves must become their most vulnerable in
order to become that character. Then we the audience will see them at their core
and begin to watch them move in these extraordinary and sometimes foreign
circumstances but understand and relate to them. The actors in the trilogy are
asked to play multiple roles, sometimes inside one play, sometimes between
plays. This allows for a certain amount of reminding: that we are in a theater
space, that something formal and holy is happening, that you the audience are
most important and we can not go on this journey of belief without your approval,
help and willingness to go. As the man from Madagascar reminds Oshoosi,
‘C’mon lets go!’
Tarell Alvin McCraney's Biography
Plays include Wig Out! (developed at Sundance Theatre Lab, produced in New
York by the Vineyard Theatre and in London by the Royal Court) and the trilogy
entitled The Brother/Sister Plays, including: The Brothers Size (simultaneously
premiered in New York at the Public Theater, in association with the Foundry
Theatre, and in London at the Young Vic, where it was nominated for an Olivier
Award for Outstanding Achievement at an Affiliated Theatre); In the Red and
Brown Water (winner of the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition,
produced at the Alliance Theatre and the Young Vic); and Marcus, or the Secret
of Sweet. His other plays include Without/Sin and Run, Mourner, Run (adapted
from Randall Kenan’s short story), both of which premiered at Yale Cabaret.
In the summer of 2006, McCraney, Catherine Filloux, and Joe Sutton wrote The
Breach, a play on Katrina, the Gulf, and our nation, commissioned by Southern
Rep in New Orleans, where it premiered in August 2007 to mark the two-year
anniversary of the tragedy in New Orleans. The Breach also played at Seattle
Rep in the winter of 2007.
McCraney attended the New World School of the Arts High School in Miami,
Florida, receiving the exemplary artist award and the Dean’s Award in Theatre.
He holds a BFA in acting from DePaul University. McCraney is a May 2007
graduate of the Yale School of Drama’s playwriting program, headed by Richard
Nelson, where he received the Cole Porter Playwriting Award upon graduation.
He is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s international writer in residence, the
2009 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, and the recipient of the 2007 Paula
Vogel Playwriting Award and the 2007 Whiting Award. He is currently under
commission at Manhattan Theatre Club and Berkeley Rep and is a member of
New Dramatists and Teo Castellanos/D-Projects in Miami. In 2008, McCraney
was the recipient of London’s Evening Standard Award for Most Promising
Playwright.
An Interview with Tarell Alvin McCraney
When did you start writing plays and why?
I’ve been a maker of dramatic plays basically all my life. I still haven’t stopped
playing make-believe. Sometimes I make up stories in my head about people I
have never met. I imagine what they do in the morning, what their dreams are
like, what their favorite colors might be...
I began writing specifically for an audience with a man named Teo Castellanos.
He’s an artist based in Miami, where I am from, and he was asked by a
rehabilitation center, the Village South, to create a troupe of teenagers, mostly of
color, from around the Miami-Dade area, who would go to youth rehabilitation
centers, detention centers, and spread a message of HIV awareness and
prevention through the vehicle of theater. Sounds like an after-school special, I
know. But what began to happen, because of the rawness that Teo REQUIRED
of us…because we wanted work that both reflected our own complex lives at
home and the powerful creative life we were endeavoring in…we created works
disturbing and palpable so that our peers in the rehab and detention centers
cried, told us dark secrets, and we told them ours and we became more of a
community. Somehow exploring how we sometimes fall victim to our
surroundings, how our parents had sometimes guided us into risky behavior, all
of those sharing moments helped us feel not so alone...this is where I began my
life as a theater artist. I began to write from myself as source for people who
would understand me instantly... That is where and why I began to write.
Who are your greatest influences?
I am heavily influenced by Lorca and Reynaldo Arenas, Essex Hemphill and
Alvin Ailey. I love dance. I watch more dance than I do plays. I try to write how I
see dance—in moves, in body language that doesn’t lie, in syncopation. Barely
anything in the space but bodies that tell you all the story that you need. I am
also highly influenced by [director] Peter Brook. He strips everything down to the
simplest and rawest form. I am influenced by the street dances that I watched in
Miami, the parades, and by my family, how I watched them celebrate and mourn
and love and...
Why were you moved to write this trilogy, using Yoruba imagery, with
spoken stage directions? Why does this story need to be told in this way?
The Yoruba have been with me, around me, even when I didn’t know it. From a
young age I found myself running into people—Lucumi, Santero, in Miami—who
would tell me that I am a child of Yemoja or that the Deities speak to me strongly.
Saying things I had no idea what they meant. Eventually I learned more about
the Cosmology and thought the IFE, the stories, beautiful in their not so happy
endings, in the simple complexities. They reminded me of my own life, how
delicate happiness could exist next to pressing tragedy like kith and kin. So I
begin to explore.
In The Brothers Size I was trying to explore rhythms, drum-like, but in the voice.
In In the Red and Brown Water I begin exploring the mixing of two stories from
two different cultures—Yerma and Oba—and how they mix, and essentially how
those mixtures are what make up the people in Cuba and the Spanish
Caribbean, African and European Spanish. And in Marcus; or The Secret of
Sweet I explored what the absence of those direct links feels like in African-
Americans today. I haven’t proved or unproved anything. Just exploring and
using what I know of my life in the South in the swampy areas of the Everglades
and Homestead, FL.
But above all the story is a story and we should not forget that it is being told to
us by talented artists who want us to feel for the characters and remember that
we have all been to this same place that they are evoking.
Tarell Alvin McCraney Timeline
Click on the graphic below to view details
In 1992, Hurricane
Andrew hits Homestead,
FL. The McCraney home
is not destroyed, but
everything in it is.
Tarell joins a troupe
of teenagers formed
by Teo Castellano
who use theater as a
vehicle for
spreading HIV
awareness at youth
detention centers.
Tarell’s mother
leaves to attend
rehab for her
drug addiction.
He and his
younger brother
move in with
their father.
Tarell Alvin
McCraney is
born in Miami,
FL on October
17, 1980.
Tarell is cast in a
production of
Blue/Orange (Northlight
Theatre), directed by
David Cromer, which
earns him a Joseph
Jefferson Award
nomination.
Tarell auditions for an
English version of Le
Costume that Peter Brook
and Marie-Hélène
Etienne are creating in
Chicago and establishes a
working relationship with
them.
Tarell enrolls at
DePaul University
in Chicago, IL to
study Acting.
Tarell graduates from
New World School of
the Arts High School.
Tarell’s mother dies from
an AIDS-related illness.
He is 23.
Tarell graduates
from DePaul
University in
Chicago, IL, with a
BFA in Acting.
BIRTH TO EIGHTEEN
Tarell enrolls in
the playwriting
program at Yale
School of Drama
in New Haven.
Tarell wins first annual
Paula Vogel
Playwriting Award
(presented by the
Vineyard Theatre).
NINETEEN TO TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY - SIX
Tarell’s plays Without/Sin
and Run Mourner, Run
are produced as part of
the Yale Cabaret season.
THE PLAYS
THE LIFE
Tarell is cast in a Steppenwolf Theatre
production of Theatrical Essays, directed by
Tina Landau.
The Brothers Size begins
as a workshop at Yale
School of Drama.
In the Red and
Brown Water is
produced in the
Carlotta Festival
by students at
Yale School of
Drama, New
Haven, CT.
In the Red and Brown Water
is produced as a reading in
New Works Now at The
Public Theater.
The Brothers Size is
produced at McCarter’s INFestival at the same time as
it is produced by Foundry
Theatre in the Under the
Radar Festival at The Public
Theater. McCarter also
produces readings of In the
Red and Brown Water and
Marcus; or The Secret of
Sweet.
Marcus; or The
Secret of Sweet is
produced in the
Carlotta Festival
by students at
Yale School of
Drama, New
Haven, CT.
Page 1 of 2
About the Plays
The Brother/Sister Plays has been selected as an NEA Outstanding New
American Play as part of the NEA New Play Development Program, hosted
by Arena Stage.
This breakthrough trilogy of new plays by one of the most celebrated young
writers in the American theater, Tarell Alvin McCraney, will be presented in two
parts. The Brother/Sister Plays are dangerous, modern-day stories of kinship,
love, heartache and coming-of-age. McCraney speaks with authenticity about a
world that is gritty and lyrical, urban and mythic. Be among the first to hear the
words of one of the most startling new American theatrical voices of the 21st
century, who is thrilling audiences internationally by pushing the boundaries of
language, form, and sexuality in provocative and poetic ways.
Tarell Alvin McCraney is a 28-year old playwright whose exquisite and
groundbreaking work has put his career on an extraordinary trajectory. Already,
productions of his plays have been mounted in Princeton, New York, London,
DC, Atlanta, Seattle, Dublin, Barcelona and New Orleans. A Princeton University
Hodder Fellow, McCraney has been honored with the Paula Vogel Playwriting
Award, the Whiting Writing Award, and has recently been named the
International Writer in Residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The
Brother/Sister Plays will travel from McCarter to New York for an off-Broadway
run as a co-production with The Public Theater.
Audience Note: Presented in two separate programs, these plays can easily be
enjoyed independently and in any order, but have a special resonance when
experienced together. These productions contain mature themes and adult
language.
Part 1
In the Red and Brown Water
How far will Oya go to make a mark in the world? Fast, beautiful Oya is a young
runner with enormous promise, forced to choose between her ailing mother and
her own dreams. This intoxicating story charts a young girl’s thrust into
womanhood and her subsequent fall into the murky waters of life.
Part 2
The Brothers Size
Even though Oshooshi Size is out of jail, he’s hardly free. In this taut, rhythmic
and playful drama, two brothers walk the line between law and liberty, locked in a
fierce tug-of-war for their own souls.
AND
Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet
Marcus’ life is not so sweet. His friends don't understand him, and he has a
secret he can’t seem to wash away. A beautiful and touching tale of a young
man's tenuous connections with his history, his friends, his sexuality, and himself.
Emily’s Note
Dear Patrons,
There is no doubt that Tarell Alvin McCraney is one of the most startling new
voices to emerge in the American theater. His first major work, The Brother/Sister
Plays, is an exquisite and groundbreaking cycle. Though fictional stories, the
plays are grounded in the gritty realities that Tarell faced growing up in the Miami
projects of the 1980’s as a black, gay man. Tarell has transformed his own
history—a brother’s imprisonment, a mother’s drug addiction and death from
AIDS—into some of the most powerful, moving and poetic plays of his, or any,
generation.
I was first introduced to Tarell’s work during his second year at Yale School of
Drama, and I realized he was the most exciting and powerful new voice I had
encountered in decades. He has an extraordinary ability to create a realistic
depiction of a dangerous, harsh world, while blending it with a haunting, rhythmic
poetry and an unmistakable sense of theatricality and music. Within a matter of
months, McCarter committed to producing The Brothers Size, as the centerpiece
production of our new work festival, in addition to mounting staged readings of
the remaining two plays of The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy. Not only were the
plays theatrically stunning, but we also witnessed the ways in which Tarell’s work
spoke to a younger generation of theater-goers; they were equally struck by the
immediacy of his storytelling and the poetry of his language. We invited Tarell to
consider McCarter his artistic home, and committed to producing the world
premiere of The Brother/Sister Plays in their entirety during our 2008-2009
Theater Series.
Since then, Tarell’s career has skyrocketed. His plays have received productions
in London, Atlanta, Barcelona, DC, New York, and Dublin. He has been named
a Princeton University Hodder Fellow and the International Writer-in-Residence
for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Though you may not find everything in McCraney’s plays comfortable, easy, or
immediately familiar, what shines through Tarell McCraney’s work is his uncanny
sense of our shared humanity. It is a privilege to witness the beginning of a
major playwright’s career. Join me this Spring in celebrating Tarell McCraney’s
beautiful trilogy.
All Best,
Emily Mann
Artistic Director and Resident Playwright
p.s. Before you attend this one-of-a-kind theatrical experience, I urge you to visit
our website (www.mccarter.org/tarell) for a set of materials about Tarell, the
plays, and the production. In order to take advantage of the sort of conversations
that we know these plays prompt, we’ve also scheduled a series of discussions
around the plays—each will feature either Tarell, the cast or McCarter’s artistic
staff. The discussions are scheduled sporadically throughout the run of The
Brother/Sister Plays, and during the “marathon” weekends, when you can see
both parts of the trilogy on the same day. Further details are on the website
(including information about the boxed meals you can order for marathon
discussions)—I sincerely hope you can join us.
On Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Trilogy
By Carrie Hughes
In 2007 the New York Times wrote about
Tarell McCraney’s play The Brothers
Size: “listen closely and you might hear
that thrilling sound that is one of the main
"He cry out and hell he make us all reasons we go to the theatre…a new
voice.” For many McCarter audiences
miss our brothers,/The ones we
this wasn’t news—they’d already
ain't neva have"
experienced McCraney’s work in our
--The Brothers Size.
2007 IN-Festival. Since then,
McCraney’s plays In The Red and Brown
“Ever seen a black boy stop n’
Water,
The Brothers Size, and Marcus; or
stare?... Turn his head to the
side….Like he just hear a ghost?” the Secret of Sweet, collectively known
as The Brother/Sister Plays, have been
-- Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet
garnering praise and attention from the
theater community in the US and abroad.
McCarter will be the first theater to produce all three plays, in a rotating two
evening repertory.
“I wanna look down and see
myself/Mirrored back to me.”
-- In The Red and Brown Water
McCraney has an unusual background for the mainstream American theater:
under 30, black, gay, from the inner city of Miami. His plays are universal in their
exploration of family, love, history and loss, but they also reflect the sum of his
particular experiences—from the rhythm and culture of Miami’s Liberty City
neighborhood with its mix of African-American, West African and Caribbean
culture, to his love of dance, his training as an actor, and his experience as a
young gay man. The Brother Sister Plays are heightened in style but emotionally
true and unafraid to reflect social and cultural realities. They are permeated by
dreams, and the characters both enact the story and serve as a kind of chorus,
narrating action and reflecting on it.
The three plays of the trilogy span two generations in the “distant present” in the
fictional town of San Pere, Louisiana. Like the Yoruban stories that inspire
McCraney (along with Christian imagery, the Greeks, and the work of Lorca,
among many other influences), The Brother Sister Plays utilize a pantheon of
characters, whose histories and relationships develop and connect the three
plays. The plays are deep and complex independently, but the resonance of
characters and ideas over the trilogy enriches the experience when viewed
together.
Evening “A” is In the Red and Brown Water, the first play in the cycle
chronologically. In it, Oya “begins the play a girl and ends it a woman.” She
loses her mother, is torn between two very different men, and struggles with the
mystery of her empty womb. Evening “B” includes both The Brothers Size and
Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet. The Brothers Size is the story of two very
different brothers, troubled by their relationship and the harshness of the world.
Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet is a coming-of-age play—a young man coming to
grips with both his sexuality and the ghost of his absent father, as he is haunted
by strange, meaningful dreams.
Each of these plays is an extraordinary debut for a young writer—the three
together are greater than the sum of their parts. Presenting the trilogy in one
swoop is an enormous undertaking, but the result should be thrilling. Dramatic,
theatrical, lyrical, heartbreaking, and true, The Brother/Sister Plays close the 0809 season.
Plot Summaries
These plot summaries are provided to help inform potential audience members of
the content of The Brother/Sister Plays. They are fairly detailed descriptions, and
you may prefer to skip these summaries to avoid revealing plot points
before you see the plays.
In the Red and Brown Water
The Brothers Size
Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet
In The Red and Brown Water
Plot Summary
Oya is fast runner—beautiful to watch on the track, and on the verge of
womanhood. The neighbor boy Elegba warns her mother that he has been
having vivid dreams about her floating in water, bleeding. At her track meet, Oya
meets the Man from State, who offers her a scholarship. She asks for the
chance to go discuss it with her mother, Mama Moja.
At home, Oya is visited by kind, stuttering Ogun, who seems to have a crush on
her, but the arrival of another man, smooth, sexy Shango, sends him off. Mama
Moja does not approve of Shango for her daughter and chases him away. Mama
Moja is feeling that her time is short, so she is reluctant to let her daughter take
the scholarship. Oya passes on the scholarship to stay with her Mama, who
dies.
Shango comes to offer his condolences, and with no Mama Moja to chase him
off, he stays. Shango’s relationship with Oya is tempestuous. When Ogun’s
aunt/Oya’s godmother Elegua visits she reminds Oya that education should
come first. But the scholarship isn’t available any more. Shango joins the army
and leaves. Ogun returns to Oya, offering her his love and one day, a family.
She accepts and he moves in.
Some time in to their relationship, Oya watches a neighborhood baby shower
with a sense of longing. Elegba visits to tell her he has gotten a woman pregnant.
Shango returns on leave and remarks on how strange it is that Oya isn’t pregnant
yet. He asks what she’s doing with Ogun, and they begin an affair. Shango
leaves: he tried to help Oya get pregnant, but it didn’t work.
Oya visits The Woman Who Reminds You looking for answers and help with her
fertility, but The Woman can not help her. Oya becomes increasing withdrawn.
She tells Ogun to go find someone who can love him better.
At a party, Oya sees Elegba with his friend The Egungun. Their “friendship” is
clearly more than just a friendship, and Oya asks Elegba if he’s a “grey boy”
(gay). He demurs, and tells her that Shango is home. Beautiful, mean Shun
stops by to let Oya know that she is pregnant with Shango’s baby.
Shango arrives, and Oya goes in the house to get him a present. She returns,
bleeding, to give him her ear. As the epilogue says—she wasn’t crazy, just sad.
The Brothers Size
Plot Summary
Oshoosi Size is just out of prison and on parole. He lives with his older brother,
the mechanic Ogun. Ogun, annoyed that Oshoosi is unemployed, hires him to
work at his car shop, where Oshoosi’s close friend from prison Elegba visits
Oshoosi at work. Oshoosi complains to Elegba that Ogun asks him about prison
all the time. Ogun enters and bristles when Elegba refers to Oshoosi as his
(Elegba’s) brother, and suggests Elegba leave. Elegba does. When Oshoosi
takes Elegba’s offered hand they have a brief physical connection.
Later, Oshoosi complains to Ogun that he needs a woman. He asks Ogun about
whatever happened to Oya—Ogun explains (see In the Red and Brown Water).
In Oshoosi’s dream, Ogun works, and Elegba visits Oshoosi, singing and
reminding him of the danger of “those late nights” in prison, when Elegba would
comfort him as he called for Ogun. Oshoosi wakes from the nightmare. Ogun
has left without him, and he is late for work. Ogun fires him. Elegba arrives,
pushing a car, a gift for Oshoosi.
Ogun dreams that Oshoosi and Elegba are bound together. Elegba does not
want to leave, Oshoosi is confused, and Ogun wants to help him, but the dream
ends.
At home, Ogun and Oshoosi talk about work—Oshoosi admires how Ogun
enjoys his work, but wonders how he will find something he enjoys like that. He
reveals that he has been smoking pot. Elegba honks for him, and Oshoosi goes
with him.
The next morning Elegba calls at Oshoosi’s window. Oshoosi is asleep and
Ogun asks him what he has to tell him. Elegba won’t reveal it, but he does tell
Ogun about Oshoosi weeping for him in prison, and while pointing out Ogun’s
failures as a brother, acknowledges that he can not be a brother to Oshoosi like
Ogun is. He also warns Ogun that the law might be coming around.
Ogun, angry and frustrated, screams at Oshoosi for his screw ups, in this case,
being caught in a car with a pound of powder. Oshoosi tells the whole story—
driving to the bayou with Elegba to visit a woman, stopping while Elegba sang to
him, the arrival of the law. Oshoosi says that in the moment the police arrived he
saw Elegba mentally return to prison, and Oshoosi realized he couldn’t go back,
so he ran. The brothers reminisce about their childhood, and sing together.
Oshoosi sees Elegba in the window and the singing and warmth stop. He goes
to bed.
Ogun wakes Oshoosi, and orders him to go—to run away. He gives him money
and his truck, and tells him he will “deny him” three times to the law. Ogun wants
to know he still has a brother, out there somewhere.
Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet
Plot Summary
Marcus is sixteen, the baby Elegba fathered in In the Red and Brown Water. He
has been having strange dreams in which he is visited by Oshoosi Size (though
he doesn’t know who he is).
Marcus and his best female friends, Shaunta and Osha, attend the funeral of
Osha’s father, Shango, killed in the war in Iraq. Marcus begins to tell his friends
about his dream, but they are interrupted by Osha’s mother Shun, who doesn’t
like Osha hanging out with “sweet” Marcus. Shun says he is just like his dead
daddy. Marcus is a little stunned. Shaunta reassures him, and then asks him if
he is “sweet” (gay). She knows that Osha wants more than friendship from
Marcus, but he should be able to tell Shaunta, since she’s just a friend. Marcus
ducks the question, but admits that he wakes from his dreams missing his father,
who he doesn’t even remember or see in the dreams.
Elegua, now near 70, runs in to Marcus and complains about Ogun’s reaction to
Shango’s death. She says he hasn’t taken anything this hard since Oshoosi left.
This is the first Marcus has heard of Oshoosi. He asks Elegua for more
information, but she doesn’t have the patience to tell him more than that he was
his father’s best friend. He asks if Elegba was sweet. She points out that he
liked women enough to father Marcus, and refuses to elaborate. Marcus then
tells her he’s been having dreams. She says his father did that too. He tells her
his dream: There is a man in the rain telling him things, but when he wakes up
he can’t remember what he told him. The man does not seduce him, although
when Elegua questions him, Marcus admits that maybe he wants him to.
Ogun finds Marcus, and admits that he reminds him of Oshoosi and Elegba, in
the way he feels everything. He tells Marcus stories about Oshoosi and Elegba.
Marcus and Ogun cry together and smile. Marcus kisses Ogun. Shaunta and
Osha (and their classmate Terell) find them, and Terell claims they were kissing.
Marcus admits that he kissed Ogun (who claims to be too old to be gay). Osha is
very angry that Marcus didn’t tell her that he is gay. Osha leaves, and Terell and
Shauta follow him. Marcus tells Ogun his dream.
Days later Marcus encounters Shua, a smooth, good-looking guy, who tells
Marcus he has pretty eyes and asks if he gets down with dudes. Marcus tells
him to meet him on the bayou. They meet and have an uncomfortable chat.
Then Shua “pulls Marcus’ head down toward his lap.”
Shun warns Osha not to spend too much time with her new guy, and points out
that she warned her about Marcus.
Marcus and Osha make up. Then Shua arrives, and when they both know
him…oops. Marcus realizes he is Osha’s new romantic interest. Shua indicates
that Marcus should keep quiet. He does.
Shua finds Marcus and suggests they keep a sexual relationship on the side.
Marcus declines. They fight, and Osha enters and figures out the situation.
Marcus and Osha make up, but she exits. Marcus exits like he heard a ghost.
Marcus goes to Elegua’s house, but she has left to avoid the coming storm.
Ogun is there and Marcus tells him about his new dream about his brother, in
which Oshoosi tells Marcus to “tell my brother…” Ogun marches in a funeral
processional by himself. Marcus watches him to make sure he gets home safe.
Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Influences
By Patrick McKelvey
“I began to investigate how to use ancient myths, stories, to tell urban ones. I
found that the stories are all still there. So I began taking old stories from the
canon of the Yoruba and splicing them, placing them down in a mythological
Housing Project in the South. This made the stories feel both old and new, as if
they stood on an ancient history but were exploring the here and now.”—Tarell
Alvin McCraney
To create a trilogy that feels both “ancient” and in the “here and now,”
Tarell Alvin McCraney taps into rich theatrical and literary legacies. What follows
are biographical and aesthetic sketches of some of McCraney’s major influences.
From Lorcan themes to Alvin Ailey’s use of syncopated rhythms, McCraney
embodies a wealth of traditions while re-imagining their relevance to
contemporary audiences.
Yoruban Culture
The Brother/Sister Plays draw
from the cosmology of the
Yoruba people of West Africa.
Yoruba culture first spread
across the Atlantic when West
Africans were sold in the slave
trade. Today its influence is felt
throughout the African
Diaspora, which includes
countries ranging from Haiti to
Brazil to Cuba to the United
States. Practiced in various
forms by millions today,
Yoruba religious traditions
embrace a rich pantheon of
orishas, or spirits, whose life
forces animate and inspire their
followers. Like Greek and
Roman gods, each orisha
corresponds to a particular
element of life, such as war,
marriage, or justice.
ORISHAS
Oya: orisha of the Niger River,
wind and storms, one of
Shango’s wives
Elegba/Elegua/Eshu: orisha of
the crossroads, messenger of the
gods, trickster, shape-shifter
(Marcus Eshu)
Yemoja: orisha of the oceans,
mother goddess (Mama Moja)
Shango orisha of the
thunderbolt, dispenser of justice
Federico Garcia Lorca
Dramatist and poet Federico Garcia
Lorca (1898-1936) was an integral member of
Spain’s avant-garde, a group of artists that
included surrealist painter Salvador Dali.
Primarily identified as a poet in his early
career, Lorca also wrote “unperformable
plays,” theatrical pieces characterized by
conventional dialogue and impossibly
elaborate, unrepresentable stage directions.
Departing from this aesthetic in the 1930s,
Lorca completed a series of more accessible
works, his “rural trilogy.” These plays—Blood
Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda
Alba—comprise Lorca’s most visible dramatic
legacy and have left their indelible print on
McCraney’s dramaturgy. In the Red and
Brown Water shares Yerma’s thematic
preoccupations with fertility and desire, but
Lorca’s influence exceeds subject matter. Both
writers captivate audiences with seductive
dramatic rhythms, embrace dream life as a
vital component of lived experience, intertwine
a myriad of religious traditions, and navigate
away from linear conceptions of time. Like The
Brother/Sister Plays, which McCraney
poetically sets in “the distant present,” Lorca’s
own lyrical universe encourages audiences
to—as Lorcan scholar Paul Julian Smith
suggests— “remember towards tomorrow.”
August Wilson
Perhaps the most frequently produced
African-American playwright, the late August
Wilson (1945-2005) is remembered for his
cycle of ten plays, each chronicling a different
decade, collectively narrating a century of
African-American history. Wilson, who listed
blues, Romare Bearden, Amiri Baraka, and
Jorge Luis Borges as his key influences, has
become an influence and icon for other
contemporary African-American writers,
including McCraney, who share his interest in
Ogun: orisha of war and iron
Shun: orisha of the Oshun
River, the most beautiful of
Shango’s wives
Shango: orisha of the
thunderbolt, dispenserof justice.
Egungun: the collective spirit
of ancestors
Oshoosi: orisha of the hunter,
the tracker, the wanderer
Oba: orisha of marriage and
domesticity
the links between myth and history, ritual, and
the presence of ghosts. Like The
Brother/Sister Plays, Wilson’s cycle takes
place across generations—certain characters
and locations appear in multiple plays.
McCraney had the opportunity to assist Wilson
on his production of Radio Golf while in
graduate school at Yale, and listened to an
iPod given to him by Wilson when writing In the
Red and Brown Water. McCraney’s inspiration
for composing Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet
includes the profound absence of gay
characters within Wilson’s canon.
Peter Brook
British director Peter Brook first came to prominence in the 1940s and has
since become one of the most influential theater artists of the twentieth century.
A two-time Tony Award winner for his productions for Marat/Sade (1965) and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1971), Brook’s aesthetic is often characterized by a
blank playing space, unornamented by elaborate set design. By not providing
too much sensory information, Brook believes, audiences are invited to
collaborate in the process of making the theatrical event (a belief he espouses in
his seminal work, The Empty Space). Brook has evolved from his origins as a
Shakespearean specialist, using multi-cultural research to incorporate nonWestern perspectives into his Western work, resulting in a simple, raw aesthetic
that has influenced McCraney’s theatrical imagination and is made manifest in
each of The Brother/Sister Plays. Brook offered a role to McCraney in an English
adaptation of Le Costume that he was directing while McCraney was still an
undergrad, and has since become incredibly supportive of his writing, including
offering his professional recommendation when McCraney began submitting his
work to theatres for production consideration.
Teo Castellanos
Teo Castellanos’ extensive writing, acting, and directing credits include his
one-man trilogy War, Revolution, and the Projects; he is the artistic director of
Teo Castellanos D-Projects and is dedicated to utilizing performances as a tool
for investigating social issues. Under Castellanos’ tutelage, the teenage
McCraney began writing for audiences for the first time by devising work around
issues of HIV prevention in rehabilitative facilities. Like McCraney, Castellanos’
work draws upon a variety of sources, including Yoruban cosmology, which he
employs thematically and aesthetically. One of D-Project’s most recent works,
Scratch & Burn, reflects this intercultural heritage, and is infused with Yoruban,
hip-hop, Buddhist, Butoh, and Maori war dance.
Essex Hemphill
A native Chicagoan born in 1957, poet, editor, and activist Essex Hemphill
became a preeminent artistic voice of gay black men in the 1980s through the
publication of two books of poetry, Earth Life and Conditions, and an edited
anthology, Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men. At once melodic,
vivid, and politically urgent, Hemphill’s work teases out the nuances of living as a
gay, black man. Insistent that poetry need not live solely on the page, in 1982,
Hemphill, Wayson Jones, and Larry Duckette created Cinquie, a performance
troupe and collaboratively performed poetry that testified to the their experiences.
Prior to passing away in 1995 from AIDS-related causes, Hemphill established a
rich artistic lineage that paved the way for McCraney and other black gay artists.
Reinaldo Arenas
Born in rural Cuba in 1943, Reinaldo Arenas came of age during the
Cuban Revolution and lent his efforts to Fidel Castro’s rebel forces before
moving to Havana and beginning his literary career at age twenty-four. Much to
the distaste of the Cuban government who championed realism and its ability to
create “a revolutionary consciousness,” Arenas’ first novel, Singing from the Well,
the first in a five-novel series, was imaginative and free-flowing, rejecting
conventional chronology and refusing to clearly delineate characters.
McCraney’s body of work reflects Arenas’ influence not only in terms of aesthetic
experimentation; both authors are transgressive, compassionate, and witty,
frequently featuring a diverse population of gay characters.
Alvin Ailey
Modern dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey’s spiritually infused,
accessible, and highly theatrical rhythms have popularized modern dance for
audiences internationally since the mid-twentieth century. Alvin Ailey Dance
Theater (AADT) has a multi-racial composition and frequently investigates
African-American themes, often drawing upon Ailey’s past growing up poor and
black in the South. In an interview with McCarter’s literary staff, McCraney, who
has studied with AADT himself, offered “I love dance. I watch more dance than I
do plays. I try to write how I see dance—in moves, in body language that doesn’t
lie, in syncopation.” McCraney shares Ailey’s concern with making visible the
lived experiences of poor, southern African Americans, a feat AADT
accomplished in the dances Blue Suite and Revelations. Syncopation, an
element of jazz, which along with social dance, modern dance, and ballet informs
AADT’s aesthetic, reverberates throughout the trilogy and McCraney’s writing.
Characters
In the Red and Brown Water
(in order of speaking)
Oya, daughter to Mama Moja
Mama Moja, mother of Oya, godmother to Elegba
Elegba, cousin to Nia, father to Marcus
The Man from State, state college running coach
Ogun Size, brother to Oshoosi Size, nephew of Aunt Elegua
Shango, father to Osha
Aunt Elegua, aunt to Ogun and Oshoosi Size, godmother to Oya
O Li Roon, a storekeeper
Shun, mother of Osha, godmother to Shaunta Iyun
Nia, cousin to Elegba, mother of Shaunta Iyun
The Woman Who Reminds You
The Egungun
The Brothers Size
(in order of speaking)
Ogun Size, brother to Oshoosi Size, nephew of Aunt Elegua
Oshoosi Size, younger brother to Ogun Size, nephew of Aunt Elegua
Elegba, cousin to Nia, father to Marcus
Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet
(in order of speaking)
Marcus, son of Elegba and Oba
Oba, mother to Marcus
Ogun Size, brother to Oshoosi Size, nephew of Aunt Elegua
Osha, daughter of Shun and Shango
Shaunta Iyun, daughter of Nia
Shun, mother of Osha, godmother to Shaunta Iyun
Terrell, a neighborhood boy, classmate to Marcus
Shua, a man from the Bronx
Elegua, aunt to Ogun and Oshoosi Size, godmother to Oya
Oshoosi Size, younger brother to Ogun Size, nephew of Aunt Elegua
O Li Roon, a storekeeper
Event Calendar
Sun
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
24
Red & Brown
8 pm
MAY 1
Red & Brown
8 pm
8
Red & Brown
8 pm
15
Red & Brown
8 pm
25
Red & Brown
8 pm
2
Red & Brown
3 pm & 8 pm
9
Red & Brown
3 pm & 8 pm
16
Bro
Size/Marcus
8 pm
21
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
22
Bro
Size/Marcus
8 pm
27
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
Discussion 10
pm
3
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
Discussion 9
pm
28
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
29
Bro
Size/Marcus
8 pm
MARATHON
#1 • 23
Bro
Size/Marcus
3 pm
Discussion 6
pm
Red & Brown
8 pm
30
Red & Brown
3 pm & 8 pm
4
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
5
Bro
Size/Marcus
8 pm
10
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
11
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
12
Red & Brown
8 pm
April 19
20
21
22
23
26
Red & Brown
2 pm
3
Red & Brown
2 pm
10
Red & Brown
2 pm & 7:30
pm
Audio
Described 2
pm
17
Red & Brown
2 pm
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
27
28
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
5
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
12
29
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
6
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
13
30
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
7
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
14
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
18
19
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
20
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
24
Red & Brown
2 pm
Dialogue on
Drama
3:30 pm
31
Bro
Size/Marcus
2 pm
25
26
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
JUNE1
2
8
9
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
MARATHON
#3 • 7
Red & Brown
2 pm
Discussion 4
pm
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
4
11
MARATHON
#2 • 6
Red & Brown
3 pm
Discussion 5
pm
Bro
Size/Marcus
8 pm
MARATHON
#4 • 13
Bro
Size/Marcus
3 pm
Discussion 6
pm
Red & Brown
8 pm
14
Bro
Size/Marcus
2 pm
ASL/Audio
Described 2
pm
ASL
Discussion 5
pm
MARATHON
#6 • 21
Bro
Size/Marcus
2 pm
Discussion 5
pm
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
15
16
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
17
Red & Brown
7:30 pm
18
Bro
Size/Marcus
7:30 pm
19
Red & Brown
8 pm
22
23
24
25
26
MARATHON
#5 • 20
ASL Red &
Brown 3 pm
ASL
Discussion 5
pm
Bro
Size/Marcus
8 pm
27
Special Events
MARATHON DISCUSSION WEEKENDS
FREE discussions between shows on our “Marathon Weekends” with McCarter’s artistic
staff, cast members, and guest speakers (reservation required).
Saturday, May 23 – 6 pm discussion
Saturday, June 6 – 5 pm discussion
Sunday, June 7 – 4 pm discussion
Saturday, June 13 – 6 pm discussion
Saturday, June 20 – 5 pm discussion*
Sunday, June 21 – 5 pm discussion
*This discussion will be accompanied by ASL Interpretation.
Boxed Meals
Boxed meals are available for purchase as a convenience for audience members
attending Marathon Weekend performances and discussions. All boxed meals include
one sandwich, red-skinned potato salad, cookies, bottled water, and plastic plates,
utensils, and paper products. Choose your preferred sandwich from:
• Oven-roasted turkey with red onion, leaf lettuce, cucumbers, & red pepper mayo
on a Portuguese roll
• Black Forest ham with Swiss, honey mustard mayo, & leaf lettuce on a
Portuguese roll
• Grilled chicken with leaf lettuce & Caesar dressing in a wrap
• Grilled veggies & fresh mozzarella with pesto mayo on a sun-dried tomato roll
All boxed meals are $12.00 and must be purchased at least 3 days prior to the
discussion date. Purchase of a meal is not required to attend a Marathon Weekend
Discussion. To purchase a boxed meal or reserve your free discussion tickets, call 609258-2787.
DIALOGUE ON DRAMA PERFORMANCE
A discussion between invited artists, academics or theater-makers (often including the
creators of the production) with an opportunity for audience questions. Free and open to
the public.
Sunday, May 24 – 3:30 pm
(Immediately following the 2 pm performance of In the Red and Brown Water)
ADDITIONAL POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS
Additional conversations between our audience and members of the cast. Free and
open to the public.
Wednesday, May 27 – 10 pm
(Immediately following the 7:30 pm performance of The Brothers Size/Marcus)
Wednesday, June 3 – 9 pm
(Immediately following the 7:30 pm performance of In the Red and Brown Water)
Sunday, June 14 – 5 pm*
(Immediately following the 7:30 pm performance of The Brothers Size/Marcus)
*This discussion will be accompanied by ASL Interpretation.
PRIDE NIGHT PARTY
Before the show, celebrate and mingle with other LGBT and gay-friendly theatergoers. A
pre-show reception with a menu from Tillie’s Nassau Street Caterers, complemented by
fine wine and refreshing beer. Hosted by Tarell Alvin McCraney.
Thursday, May 7 – 6 pm, Matthews Theatre West Lobby
(Party prior to the 7:30 performance of In the Red and Brown Water)
AFTER HOURS PARTY
The best in food, drink and entertainment—all under one roof! A post-show reception
with a menu from Tillie’s Nassau Street Caterers, complimented by fine wine and
refreshing beer. Featuring artist/musician Nim Ben-Reuven, spinning all your classic
Motown favorites!
Friday, May 8 – 8 pm
(Party in the Matthews Theatre West Lobby immediately following the 8 pm
performance of In the Red and Brown Water)
AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCES
Professional ASL interpreters will translate the performance into sign language for
patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Both performances will be followed by ASLinterpreted discussions. To ensure optimal seating locations for viewing of both the
interpreters and the stage, please indicate that you or members of your party will be
using this service at the time of ticket purchase.
Saturday, June 20 – 3 pm (In the Red and Brown Water)
Sunday, June 14 – 2 pm (The Brothers Size/Marcus)
AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCES
Without interfering with the dialogue, trained audio describers provide a live, objective,
and succinct description of the action and visual elements of the play, heard by
participating patrons through an earpiece attached to a pocket-sized FM radio.
Sunday, May 10 – 3 pm (In the Red and Brown Water)
Sunday, June 14 – 2 pm (The Brothers Size/Marcus)
Who’s Who
Acting Company
Barnaby Carpenter
(O Li Roon/The Man
From State/Ensemble)
Samuel Ray Gates
(Shango/Shua)
Kimberly Hébert
Gregory (Aunt
Elegua/Shun)
Brian Tyree Henry
(The Egungun/Oshoosi
Size/Terrell)
Marc Damon Johnson
(Ogun Size)
Nikiya Mathis
(Shun/Shaunta Iyun)
Alano Miller
(Elegba/Marcus
Kianné Muschett
(Oya/Osha)
Heather Alicia Simms
(Mama Moja/The Woman
Who Reminds
You/Nia/Oba)
Artistic Staff
Tarell Alvin McCraney (Playwright)
Tina Landau (Director, In the Red and Brown Water)
Robert O’Hara (Director, The Brothers Size & Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet)
James Schuette (Set Design)
Karen Perry (Costume Design)
Jane Cox (Lighting Design)
Lindsay Jones (Sound Design)
Mara Isaacs (Producing Director)
David York (Director of Production)
Cheryl Mintz (Production Stage Manager)
Alison Cote (Stage Manager)
Laura Stanczyk, CSA (Casting Director)
Emily Mann (Artistic Director/Resident Playwright)
Timothy J. Shields (Managing Director)
Frequently asked Questions
Q: Who is this Tarell Alvin McCraney guy, anyway?
A: He’s only the hottest young playwright around! Born in Miami, Tarell is a 28year-old prodigy who has taken the international theater scene by storm in only a
few short years. Only two years out of graduate school, his plays have been
produced in London, New York, Atlanta, D.C., Barcelona, and Dublin. He’s one of
the most startling and brilliant young writers we’ve ever heard, and we can’t wait
for you to hear his voice!
Q: Your audience note says that The Brother/Sister Plays “contain adult
language and mature themes.” Can you elaborate?
A: Sure! Let’s start with “adult language”. All three plays contain swear words,
some of which are racially charged, and many of which are on the stronger end
of the spectrum. The language of the plays is heightened and poetic, but the
words are informed by the gritty, urban world that the plays are set in. If you have
ever seen a show on HBO, you won’t hear anything you haven’t heard before.
Now, for “mature themes”. First off, the trilogy does contain sexual content. The
plays also tackle a number of weighty issues involving race, class, and
homosexuality. They’re mature themes and require a mature audience member.
Q: I have three children, ages 8, 13, and 17. Can I bring them to The
Brother/Sister Plays? They’re really mature!
A: We really can’t make that decision for you. Every child has a different level of
maturity, and every parent has a different set of boundaries for what their child is
ready to experience.
That being said, with regards to the 8-year-old: absolutely not. The 13-year-old is
right on the bubble; it would take a very mature 13-year-old to handle the
content. On the other hand, some of the characters in the play are that young. As
for the 17-year-old: again, we can’t speak for everyone, but we’d be willing to bet
that The Brother/Sister Plays don’t contain anything he or she hasn’t heard
before, although perhaps not on stage. We’re aware that language on the stage
has a different impact than it does on the playground.
Q: I’m sorry, what? Three plays? Two separate evenings? I don’t get it!
A: Let us explain. The Brother/Sister Plays is a trilogy, made up of three
separate, smaller plays. Each individual play is anywhere from 65 minutes to 90
minutes long, so if we presented them all in one fell swoop, you’d be in the
theater for about 5 hours straight (with breaks). And, while that idea might sound
heavenly for some, for others it would be considerably less appealing.
So, we’ve broken the trilogy into two pieces—two different evenings of theater.
Part One contains the first play in the trilogy, In the Red and Brown Water, and
Part Two consists of the second and third plays: The Brothers Size and Marcus;
or The Secret of Sweet. So to sum up: you get three plays in two parts, equaling
one theatrical event.
Q: I have tickets to see Part II before I see Part I. Will I be totally confused?
A: Nope. Each part of the trilogy can be enjoyed by itself, which means that you
can see them in any order and still follow the story of each play. That said, the
plays take on a special resonance when experienced as a set, and we
encourage you to see them both. Each play has its own self-contained plot, so
you won’t be left with a “to be continued” feeling at the end of any of the three
stories. But, if for some reason you DO get lost, you can click here for plot
summaries of each of the plays, or here for a handy-dandy character tree that
explains how each character fits into the grand scheme of things.
Q: I’ve been reading the rave reviews about The Brothers Size and In the
Red and Brown Water from past productions in London and New York, but
you’re calling The Brother/Sister Plays a world premiere. What gives?
A: As we mentioned above, the trilogy is comprised of three distinct plays (in two
parts). Two of those three plays—In the Red and Brown Water and The Brothers
Size—have indeed been produced before at venues including Atlanta’s Alliance
Theatre, New York’s Public Theater, London’s Young Vic, and even McCarter’s
own In-Festival in 2007.
The third play, Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet, has never been produced
anywhere before now, which means that McCarter’s production of The
Brother/Sister Plays marks the first time the trilogy has been produced anywhere
in its entirety. Thus, The Brother/Sister Plays, as one entity, is a world premiere.
Q: Why are there are so many pre- and post-show discussions for these
plays? And what’s the difference between a regular discussion and a
“Marathon Discussion”? Please explain!
A: Gladly. For every Theater Series production, McCarter offers two post-show
discussions and one Dialogue on Drama performance. Given the unique
circumstances of The Brother/Sister Plays, we decided to incorporate additional
discussions, anticipating that audience members would want to get more
involved and truly become a part of this landmark theatrical event.
So, we created seven “Marathon Days”: weekend days where you can see the
entire trilogy in one day, one part in the afternoon and another in the evening. On
these days, we’ll hold a discussion in between the two performances, right inside
the Berlind Theatre. This way, people attending the matinee can stick around for
the discussion, people attending the evening show can come early, and intrepid
theatergoers who are so inclined can attend BOTH shows and catch the
discussion in between.
For a complete schedule of the Marathon Days, look at the calendar above.
Q: What’s this I hear about boxed meals for sale during some of the
discussions? And how do I get one?
A: Well, after we planned the Marathon Days, we realized that an entire day is an
awfully long time to stay in the theater. We also realized that our concessions,
while certainly delicious, don’t constitute an entire meal. So, we’re giving you the
option of purchasing a boxed meal on Marathon Days for a cost of $12. You can
pick up your meal right here at the theater between shows and eat it at your seat
during the discussion.
There are a few different menu options (look at schedule of events above), all of
which will be generously provided by Jack’s Café. The boxed meals are available
for Marathon Days only, and you must reserve your meal at least 3 days in
advance.
(And just to clarify one thing: No, you don’t need to attend the show or purchase
a boxed meal to attend a marathon discussion; the discussions are free and
open to the public. However, reservations are required.)
To or order your boxed meal or reserve your seat for a Marathon discussion, call
(609) 258-2787.
Q: So I already bought my tickets, but now that I hear about these
“Marathon Days,” I want to exchange! What should I do?
A: Well, first of all, we should reiterate that you don’t have to see both shows—or
either show, for that matter—on a marathon day to attend that day’s discussion.
Each discussion is free and open to anyone who’s interested in either learning
more about the plays or discussing them with other audience members.
However, if you still want to exchange your tickets, you can call (609) 258-2787,
and our fabulous Ticket Office staff will help you do so.
Q: This whole thing seems really complicated. Why is McCarter doing this
trilogy in the first place?
A: We’re doing the trilogy because we are committed to work that speaks to all
people across all parts of America; because we believe in Tarell and we believe
that his words need to be heard; because we love plays that stimulate and
challenge our audience; and because we know that these plays speak—in a
highly theatrical way—to the human truths we all face. We hope you’ll agree.
An Interview with Karen Perry, Costume Designer
Costume designer Karen Perry is known to McCarter
audiences for her work on Gem of the Ocean and Stick Fly.
In March she sat down with McCarter Literary Manager
Carrie Hughes to discuss the process of designing the
costumes for The Brother/Sister Plays.
CH: How were you first introduced to Tarell’s work, and
what was your first impression of the trilogy?
KP: [Producing Associate] Adam Immerwahr gave me a call and asked me about
my availability to design the plays. I had heard of The Brothers Size, though I
missed it at the Public. I thought, OK, send them. Let me read them but let me
just go ahead and say yes ahead of time. Then I read them. And it was poetry
and it was the Orishas and I wasn’t sure that it was right for me, but I said yes
anyway. I was actually even more impressed when I went to do my research on
Tarell. I found a real personal story about who he is and where he’s from, and I
work like that. I need to know you from the inside. I don’t need to see what you
look like on the outside; we all put on costumes every day. So that research
really helped me know where these plays had come from and then I got very,
very excited.
CH: You’re doing three plays with two different directors and they’re of one
story but they’re all very different. I was wondering if you could talk about
the general vocabulary of each show. Are you trying to create a through
line in the visuals, or is it three distinct looks?
KP: In one of our first rehearsals, Tarell said these are the trilogy versions of
these plays. There is a cohesiveness in them that is slightly different than when
they are solo shows. That became what I wanted to do, to keep the same sort of
shape, look, fluidity, particularly with some of these characters that carry through
all three plays. I’m playing with color a lot as language. There are shows that
have a lot more color than other shows. The palate is how you distinguish
between the plays and the beginning has the least amount of color and the end
has the most.
These characters are named after Orishas but this is not a ceremonial, ritualistic
tale. I will go back to words from the playwright/director: “these are people in the
projects.” If you were to walk through the projects and these Orishas were
walking amongst you, what would they have on, who would they be, what would
they do?
CH: Is it mostly bought clothing or are you doing some building?
KP: It’s both; it’s bought and built for all three plays. It’s modern day clothing but
some of it is stylized just to contour bodies and give attitude. If I could have found
it I would have bought it, but I couldn’t find it so we’re making it.
CH: Can you give an example of that? How you’re using just clothes but
it’s stylized?
KP: There are moments when some characters can carry angles. Some of the
Orishas carry more of a trickster element so a lot of their things are sort of
asymmetrical. Even though it’s just clothing, meaning that it doesn’t look like a
costume trickery piece, not being able to find it to buy it and having to build it
gave me the opportunity to say, “no, I need this to hug her breasts and drape
across her hips and then pop down to one side so she can flip it up and over her
shoulder.”
CH: Can you talk about the biggest challenges of this project?
KP: The water. Water, dirt, and blood. It’s always an issue when you’re dealing
with costumes, so that’s it. Not so much dirt…
CH: Because dirt comes out in the washing machine?
KP: And hopefully if it’s the right kind of blood, it will come out too. It’s just that
one of these shows is all white, and it’s called “The Red and Brown Water…”
CH: You’ve been doing fittings for the past couple weeks. Doing the fittings
and working with the actors, how do you collaborate?
KP: When the actor comes in I say to them, from beginning of the act to the end
of the act, what’s your pacing, what are you doing, what do you need? A lot of
times by just telling me I need to do this and that, I get a sense, so instead of
doing what I was about to do, I adjust and go to that second rack and pick x, y,
and z. They inform me about their business and their bodies come in and their
bodies immediately inform me.
I have a really strong sense of what’s right and what’s needed. But it’s not in
stone, and it’s not in blood, even though I might feel really strongly. And
sometimes I may end up being right. We may end up getting to tech and I’ll go,
ah, my first intention was right.
I’ll give my option and then go ahead and do the alternative option, in the way
that the actor sees it, and most times I can see how both ways would work. Most
of the time it really is a collaboration. Because bottom line is, the actors do have
to get on stage and be able to have the words come out of their mouth and
embody what this is.
CH: Can you talk about where you looked for your research, what kind of
research you did?
KP: When I get to go home, where my research and my library are, I pull out just
everything and I scour through it. I had a lot of hip-hop books, I had a lot of
things in Vibe magazine, I had some English hip-hop, English reggae—just so
other, you know other. Then there was so much with Katrina—I actually still had
my Time magazine and a few other periodicals from that period of time because
significant things in history I keep, because you never know when you’re going to
need them. And then I go on-line and see what there is there.
I pulled it from there. I know the projects. I’m from Harlem. I didn’t grow up in
the projects, or live in one, but they were right around the corner!
Also, I did a tour in 1993. From August of 2003 to Mother’s Day 2004 I did 93
cities in a tour bus. Actually, most of them were not cities. So we’d travel through
some of these tiny little towns and hamlets in the Carolinas, all up and town the
South, Tampa, Jacksonville, and then all in between, Nebraska, places like that.
Going through the cities and you’d see how different people in the towns, how
folks are living. They would get to the theater and most times come dressed like
they were going to church on Sunday. So the sense of style was there. They
watch TV like everyone else and what’s available is not necessarily the same
thing that’s available in Los Angeles or in New York or even in Atlanta, but it’s the
same clothes.
CH: The last two shows you did here were both fairly realistic and very
specific in terms of their period. This one is set in “the distant present.”
Can you talk about how you deal with the question of period?
KP: I’m trying not to deal with period as much. It IS the present so you’ll see
some characters that are wearing what you’ll find in the store right now. You’ll
see some that are wearing what was really popular a year ago or even six
months ago. I was trying not to have anyone say “that’s really a 1950s kind of
thing.” I have a character in a seersucker suit. Now seersucker is classic, but it
also feels old. Not very many modern people are walking around in seersucker
suits, though they are there. It also says Southern. You’ll have that, versus
someone in tight skinny jeans with the tiny t-shirt and so forth and then there are
all the looks in between. It’s more character driven in a modern age than trying
to mix the periods. At least that’s what it is today. It could all change.
Videos
Emily Mann on The Brother’s Size
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOzMdcMcpRM
Tarell Alvin McCraney at Live at the Library
http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?datatype=playlist&data=A259
C93E7A216356&eurl=&amp=&hl=en
Links about Tarell Alvin McCraney
Whatsonstage.com
20 Questions With … Tarell Alvin McCraney
http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=207&story=E8821194805596
The Miami Herald
Up from chaos: Talent, theater transform a troubled life
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2007/05/up_from_chaos_t_
1.html
The Sunday Times
Tarell Alvin McCraney: Out of the hoods
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/the
atre/article4867641.ece
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Tarell McCraney, once an assistant to August Wilson, is a playwright to
watch
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08318/927398-325.stm
The Times
How Theatre offered Tarell Alvin McCraney a lifeline
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/the
atre/article5237306.ece
EDUCATOR’S INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the McCarter Audience Guide educator materials for Tarell Alvin
McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays: In the Red and Brown Water, The Brother
Size, and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet. This material has been assembled to
complement both your students’ theater-going experience and your class
curriculum by offering a variety of interesting and edifying activities for both preshow and post-performance instruction and enjoyment.
This production of a brand new play trilogy by a young and gifted American
playwright who speaks directly to the younger generation of theater goers offers
opportunities for enrichment in social studies, language arts, and theater.
Students can explore the themes presented by the playwright and consider them
intellectually and personally in relation to their own lives and experiences;
investigate the Yoruban culture and cosmology which has greatly inspired Tarell
Alvin McCraney’s work; examine ancient myths for the purpose of devising
modern-day, mythical narratives à la McCraney; appreciate the playwright’s
dramatic artistry through the exploration of an excerpt of one of The
Brother/Sister Plays and the experience of scene study, preparation, and
presentation; and ponder what they would write about were they, like McCraney,
to “tell untold stories” that make people “feel as if they weren’t alone” or that
cultivate a greater sense of community. Teachers can also link their classroom
directly with McCarter Theatre via the McCarter Theatre Blog and utilize it for
pre- and post-show educational assignments.
Our student audiences are often our favorite audiences at McCarter, and we
encourage you and your students to join us for a lively conversation with
members of The Brother/Sister Plays talented cast after the performance. Our
visiting artists are always impressed with the preparation and thoughtfulness of
McCarter’s student audiences, and the post-performance discussion offers a
unique opportunity for students to engage intellectually with professional theater
practitioners. We look forward to seeing all of you for a wonderful and exciting
discussion about these exciting and important new plays of the American Theater
and their talented playwright.
CORE CURRICULUM STANDARDS
According to the NJ Department of Education, “experience with and knowledge
of the arts is a vital part of a complete education.” Our production of THE
BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS and the activities outlined in this guide are designed to
enrich your students’ education by addressing the following specific Core
Curriculum Content Standards for Visual and Performing Arts:
1.1 (Aesthetics) All students will use aesthetic knowledge in the creation of and
in response to dance, music, theater, and visual art.
1.2 (Creation and Performance) All students will utilize those skills, media,
methods, and technologies appropriate to each art form in the creation,
performance, and presentation of dance, music, theater, and visual art.
1.3 (Elements and Principles) All students will demonstrate an understanding of
the elements and principles of dance, music, theater, and visual art.
1.4 (Critique) All students will develop, apply and reflect upon knowledge of the
process of critique.
1.5 (History/Culture) All students will understand and analyze the role,
development, and continuing influence of the arts in relation to world
cultures, history, and society.
Viewing THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS and then participating in the pre- and postshow discussions and activities suggested in this audience guide will also
address the following Core Curriculum Content Standards in Language Arts
Literacy:
3.1 (Reading) All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds,
letters, and words in written English to become independent and fluent
readers, and will read a variety of materials and texts with fluency and
comprehension.
3.2 (Writing) All students will write in clear, concise, organized language that
varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes.
3.3 (Speaking) All students will speak in clear, concise, organized language
that varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes.
3.4 (Listening) All students will listen actively to information from a variety of
sources in a variety of situations.
3.5 (Viewing and media literacy) All students will access, view, evaluate, and
respond to print, nonprint, and electronic texts and resources.
In addition, the production of THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS as well as the audience
guide activities will help to fulfill the following Social Studies Core Curriculum
Standards:
6.1 (Social Studies Skills) All students will utilize historical thinking, problem
solving, and research skills to maximize their understanding of civics,
history, geography, and economics.
6.3 (World History) All students will demonstrate knowledge of world history in
order to understand life and events in the past and how they relate to the
present and the future.
PRE-SHOW PREPARATION, QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION, AND
ACTIVITIES
Note to Educators: Use the following assignments, questions, and activities to
introduce your students to THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS (In the Red and Brown
Water, The Brothers Size, and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet) and its
intellectual and artistic origins, context, and themes, as well as to engage their
imaginations and creativity before they see the production.
1. EXPLORING AND PERSONALIZING THE THEMES OF THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS,
BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE. In her overview of the The Brother/Sister Plays
trilogy on this web site, McCarter Theatre Literary Manager Carrie Hughes
describes playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s dramatic work thusly, “His plays
are universal in their exploration of family, love, history and loss, but they also
reflect the sum of his particular experiences…” On his early life and
upbringing, Miami-born McCraney writes, “I lived in the other America; the
America that doesn’t always get depicted in the cinema. The America that we
are told to pretend isn’t there. And in an attempt to create theater that told
untold stories, that gave voice to another half of America, I created The
Brother/Sister Plays.” These two quotations, taken together, effectively
describe McCraney’s “untold stories” and the broader power, common
experience, and collective impact of In the Red and Brown Water, The
Brothers Size, and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet.
The questions for discussion immediately below are designed to have your
students explore the themes of The Brother/Sister Plays from their own
perspectives and particular experience before seeing the performance.
“STRANGE, MURKY, AND SAD WATERS.” McCraney’s fast and loose description
of In the Red and Brown Water is as follows: “[It is] a play about a young
woman who comes of age in a community where she has a great opportunity
to become a runner, and her opportunity, her path, leads into some very
strange, murky and sad waters.” The play thematically focuses on the
transition of adolescents into adults and the resultant rites of passage, such
as life and career choices, the loss of a parent, the tragedy of crushed
dreams and aspirations, unrequited love and heartbreak.
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Ask your students to make a bulleted list of their dreams and
aspirations for their life and career path in the next five to ten years.
Once they have compiled their individual lists, ask them to share
some of their dreams and aspirations as a group.
Next, ask your students to consider the life paths of adults with
whom they are close whose dreams and aspirations as adolescents
were unrealized, deferred, or altered. (Students might be given the
weekend to consult with family and friends.) What caused their
dreams/aspirations to go unrealized or be deferred or altered?
How did they cope? Did anyone find themselves unexpectedly in
“strange, murky, and[/or] sad waters?” How did they find their way
back to dry, firm land? Did anyone find that despite crushed
dreams or deferred aspirations, a new and unexpected path
opened up and brought them happiness and satisfaction? Who
had regrets and what were they? Who had no regrets and why
not? Ask students to share the stories they collect.
And finally, ask students how the knowledge or understanding
gleaned from the stories they have collected has affected their
perception of transitioning into adulthood or alter their attitudes
about their own life path.
BROTHERS SIZE "D" CONFLICTS. At the heart of The Brothers Size is the tense
and troubled relationship between two brothers who struggle with a variety of
issues and resentments typical to many siblings and families. These struggles
include individual/opposite temperaments (e.g., “perfect child” vs. “problem
child,”), differing attitudes towards personal and familial responsibilities, and
an inability to forgive and forget the past.
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Ask your students if they have encountered similar issues with their
own brothers and sisters or in their own families. Have they been
able to openly address and discuss these problems? If so, how?
What were the outcomes of these discussions?
Have your students think of an unaddressed or unresolved tense
situation with a sibling or close family member in which
individual/opposite temperaments, differing attitudes towards
personal and familial responsibilities, or an inability to forgive and
forget the past play a part. Give them the opportunity to script an
idealized dialogue between themselves and their family member in
which they are able to express their feelings. If appropriate,
students may volunteer their scripts to be read aloud to the class
and discussed.
SECRETS AND TRUTHS. McCraney’s Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet focuses
on the third generation of the Brother/Sister family. The play centers on
Marcus and his coming of age and coming-out, and for much of the play,
Marcus hides the secret of his emerging sexual orientation from his closest
friends and his family. His attempts to keep the secret of his “sweetness”
begin to impact his personal relationships and even his dreams.
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Ask your students if they’ve ever concealed a secret about
themselves or if they’ve known someone who has felt it necessary
to do so. (Students should not be required to volunteer their own
stories.) Framing your conversation as a “hypothetical discussion,”
ask students what sorts of secrets adolescents and adults keep
from themselves and from one another and why? What are the
impacts or effects of keeping secrets on the secret-keeper and his
or her family and friends?
Ask students to consider why an adolescent boy, like Marcus, might
find it necessary to hide the secret of his sexual orientation. What
discomforts or dangers lie in the revelation of his gay identity at
school, at home, and in the community? What are the negative
effects that keeping such a secret would have upon Marcus, his
friends and his family? What positive results could the revelation of
Marcus’ secret bring?
2. INSPIRATIONAL EXPLORATION: YORUBAN CULTURE. McCraney’s life and work
has been greatly inspired by the Yoruba religion of West Africa and its
cosmology and traditions. While McCraney has noted that you do not need to
know Yoruba mythology to understand his plays he offers, “If you know
anything about Yoruba, it will resonate on a different wavelength.” To deepen
the levels of your students’ understanding and appreciation of The
Brother/Sister Plays, have them research Yoruba, its peoples, and their
history, religion(s), and cosmology/cosmogony. Specific avenues for
research include:
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Ile-Ife, the ancient Yoruban city and spiritual and artistic center of
the Yoruba people
Yoruba Orishas or deities
[Oba/Oya, Shango, Shun, Egungun, Ogun, Oshoosi,
Eshu/Elegba/Elegua, and Yemoja are of particular significance to
The Brother/Sister Plays]
Yoruba legends
[Click on this link for the full text of M. I. Ogumefu’s Yoruba
Legends (London: Sheldon Press, 1929).]
Yoruba in the New World and throughout the African diaspora
3. ANCIENT MYTHS AND MODERN MYTHMAKING. A myth or legend can be defined
as a traditional, often ancient, narrative that deals with supernatural beings,
ancestors or heroes and which serves to explain natural phenomenon;
describe the customs, behaviors, ideals or values of a society, culture, or faith
system; or provide a foundation for communal identity or solidarity. A
mythology, then, refers to a collection of these types of stories, and can be
applied to the narratives of all religions, both those that are widely practiced
and those no longer practiced. For example, one can refer to a Yoruba
mythology, a Jewish mythology, a Christian mythology, an Islamic mythology,
a Greek mythology, an Ayyavazhi mythology, a Buddhist mythology, etc. (It is
important to note that the terms myth and mythology can refer to beliefs
without implying fantasy, fiction, or falsehood.) Have your students explore
the Yoruba mythology as presented by M. I. Ogumefu in Yoruba Legends.
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Ask them to discuss the characters, stories, and themes of these
myths/legends. What phenomenon or idea is each story attempting
to explain? What are the natures or personalities of the characters
in each story? What ideals or values is each attempting to teach or
instill?
Discuss other mythologies and specific myths or legends your
students have heard, read, or studied. How do these myths
compare with the Yoruban narratives?
Take your students through a brainstorming session to identify
modern-day phenomena, persons, customs, behaviors, ideals, or
values that would be fun to explore and explain (and perhaps
correct) through the creation of a “modern myth.” Once a list has
been generated divide the class into pairs or triads to devise their
own narratives. In the following class meeting, have your students
share their new classroom mythology.
4. DIPPING AN ACTOR’S TOE IN(TO) THE RED AND BROWN WATER. When McCarter
Theatre Artistic Director Emily Mann read the first page of Tarell McCraney’s
In the Red and Brown Water, she immediately asked, “Who is this young
man?!” To fully appreciate the work of the playwright whom Mann refers to as
“the most exciting and powerful new voice I had encountered in decades,”
have your students study an excerpt of In the Red and Brown Water. [Look
above at the Plot Summaries]
ƒ Before breaking your class up into scene-study groups of two, read
together, aloud as a class, the Author’s Notes and Prologue. Ask
students to respond to the work. What did they notice about the
Prologue (in terms of dialogue/language, character, staging, etc.)?
What did they find compelling? Where did they find meaning?
Was there anything they found confusing? Can they envision the
Prologue on stage? What do they see? How would they stage this
opening of the play?
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Break your class in half or in thirds and ask each ensemble to
nominate and elect a director to stage a “fast and loose” version of
the Prologue. (You might like to have on hand a sound system and
a collection of music to use as accompaniment.) Directors should
direct and rehearse their groups. Before the end of class, have
each ensemble perform their version of the Prologue. Following
the Prologue presentations, lead students in a discussion of their
experience rehearsing and performing the Prologue. Was there
anything the students learned about the Prologue through the
performance of it?
Now, break the class up into scene-study partners; student-actors
should assume the roles of either Oya and Mama Moja (Scene 1)
or Mama Moja and Elegba (Scene 2). Scene-study partners should
read their scene through once together, before getting on their feet
to stage it, to get a sense of the characters and the scene overall.
Student-actors should prepare/rehearse their scene for a script-inhand presentation for the class.
Following scene presentations, lead students in a discussion of
their experience rehearsing and performing Questions might
include:
o What are the pleasures and challenges of performing the
scene from McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water?
o What insights, if any, did you have regarding the play or
the characters of Oya, Mama Moja, or Elegba that you
got from putting the play and its characters on their feet?
o What about the characters felt real to you in the acting of
them?
o Was there any moment that felt strange or awkward in
bringing your character to life?
o Given your interaction with the Prologue and the first two
scenes of In the Brown Water, do you have any thoughts
about what might happen in the scenes that follow?
POST-SHOW QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND
ACTIVITIES
Note to Educators: Use the following assignments, questions, and activities to
have students evaluate their experience of the performance of The Brother/Sister
Plays (In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, and Marcus; or The
Secret of Sweet), as well as to encourage their own imaginative and artistic
projects through further exploration of the play in production. Consider also that
some of the pre-show activities might enhance your students’ experience
following the performance.
1. THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS: PERFORMANCE REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION.
Following their attendance at the performance of one or more of The
Brother/Sister Plays, ask your students to reflect on the questions below. You
might choose to have them answer each individually or you may divide
students into groups for round-table discussions. Have them consider each
question, record their answers and then share their responses with the rest of
the class.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR STUDENTS ABOUT THE PLAY(S) IN PRODUCTION
a. What was your overall reaction to the performance of the
play(s)? Did you find the production compelling? Stimulating?
Intriguing? Challenging? Memorable? Confusing?
Evocative? Unique? Delightful? Meaningful? Explain your
reactions.
b. Did experiencing the play(s) heighten your awareness or
understanding of the play’s/plays’ themes? How? [Themes: In
the Red and Brown Water: the transition of adolescents into
adults and the resultant rites of passage, such as life and career
choices, the loss of a parent, the tragedy of crushed dreams
and aspirations, unrequited love and heartbreak; The Brothers
Size: the bonds of brotherhood vs. the connection among
friends, the struggle between opposing temperaments, differing
attitudes towards personal and familial responsibilities, and the
inability to forgive and forget the past; Marcus; or The Secret of
Sweet: the trials of coming of age, the tribulations associated
with coming-out, the impacts and effects of keeping secrets; and
the power of dreams to influence our lives or reveal ourselves.
Share these themes with your students and ask them what
other themes they encountered in performance.]
c. What themes were made even more apparent in
production/performance? Explain your responses.
d. Do you think that the pace and tempo of the production were
effective and appropriate? Explain your opinion.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR STUDENTS ABOUT THE CHARACTERS
a. Did you personally identify with any characters in any of The
Brother/Sister Plays? Who? Why? If no, why not?
b. What qualities were revealed by the action and speech of the
characters? Explain your ideas.
c. Did either character develop or undergo a transformation during
the course of the play(s) and/or entire trilogy? Who? How?
Why?
d. In what ways did the characters reveal the themes of the
play(s)? Explain your responses.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR STUDENTS ABOUT THE STYLE AND DESIGN OF THE
PRODUCTION
a. Was there a moment in The Brother/Sister Plays that was so
compelling or intriguing that it remains with you in your mind’s
eye? Write a vivid description of that moment. As you write
your description, pretend that you are writing about the moment
for someone who was unable to experience the performance.
b. Did the style and design elements of the production enhance
the performance(s)? Did anything specifically stand out to you?
Explain your reactions.
c. How did the production style and design reflect the themes of
the play(s)?
d. What mood or atmosphere did the lighting design establish or
achieve? Explain your experience.
e. How did the music and sound design enhance your overall
experience?
f. Did the design of the costumes and/or makeup serve to
illuminate the characters, themes, and style of the play(s)?
How?
2. ADDITIONAL POST-SHOW QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS FOR THE
BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS.
• In his artist’s statement for The Brother/Sister Plays web site/resource
guide, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney writes:
This is theater as community. It is holy theater not because it exalts
something on high, but because for the hour or so on stage the
audience and actor are one and all those people, though each
seeing it slightly differently, are believing--following the same
course or going on a journey together. In The Brother/Sister Plays, I
have tried, through language, content and format, to invigorate the
communal portion of the plays. The actors speak stage directions
that invite the audience to remember that they are in a theater and
that the story that is being told is for them and to feel free to call
and respond back. Truly, in a world where stories are told in many
beautiful and spectacular ways the live theater still has the powerful
construct of communal journey, communal belief, community.
Now that your students have seen McCraney’s work in performance, ask
them to comment on the playwright’s convention of having actors
speaking the stage directions aloud:
o What do they think about his use of this convention?
o What did they notice about its use? Or how was it used?
o What effect(s) did it have on the (telling of) the story?
o Did they find that the actors speaking the stage directions
reminded them that they were watching a play? What
effect did this have upon their viewing experience, if any?
o Did you find that the convention invigorated the play? If
so, how?
o Did you find that the convention invited you into the play
and worked to create a feeling of community? Explain
your response.
o Did the use of the convention lead you to feel “free to call
and respond back” to the play? Why or why not?
o Have you ever seen a play in performance (or read a
play) in which stage directions were spoken aloud (or
intended to be spoken aloud) by actors? [See Bertolt
Brecht’s utilization of the speaking of stage directions out
loud in rehearsals as part of his technique known as the
Alienation Effect (der Verfremdungseffekt). Note that
Brecht and McCraney employ the convention to achieve
different (possibly contrasting) effects.]
Give your students the opportunity to play with McCraney’s convention of
actors speaking the stage directions through the performative exploration
of an excerpt from the playwright’s In the Red and Brown Water. [Read
plot summaries above]
•
If you were able to bring your students to see both parts of The
Brother/Sister Plays, ask them to reflect on the fact that Parts 1 and 2
were shaped by different directors—Tina Landau directed In the Red and
Brown Water and Robert O’Hara directed both The Brothers Size and
Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet. Questions you ask them may include:
o Was the vision, influence, or approach of two different
directors evident in your experience of Parts 1 and 2 of
The Brother/Sister Plays? How did these differences
manifest themselves?
o Did you detect any of Tina Landau’s directorial ideas or
images in In the Red and Brown Water coincidentally
echoed in the work of Robert O’Hara’s The Brother Size
and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet? Describe these
echoes.
o Why do you think it was necessary or creatively
preferable to employ two directors to direct the three
plays of the trilogy?
o How do you think a director’s approach to artistically
envisioning a single play may differ from his or her
approach to a play or plays being performed as a trilogy?
o Why do you think Tarell Alvin McCraney incorporated all
three plays into a trilogy? What greater meanings do the
individual stories of In the Red and Brown Water, The
Brothers Size, and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet take
on as the trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays?
For greater insight into the directors’ thoughts on The Brother/Sister Plays
and their feelings about the work of playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney,
have your students read aloud the “Interview with Directors” found on/in
The Brother/Sister Plays web site/resource guide, and utilize its content
for further discussion.
•
Another special opportunity for trilogy goers is experiencing an ensemble
of actors, most of whom embody multiple roles, sometimes inside one
play, and in the course of two to three plays. Ask your students to reflect
upon the ensemble of actors and the impact of seeing actors doubling
roles across plays. Questions you ask them may include:
o What was your experience of watching actors performing
multiple roles?
o Why do you think that both playwright and directors opted
for role doubling inside and across plays? What artistic
impact or benefit does acting doubling offer the world of
the plays?
o Are you able to recognize any specific patterns or
purpose in the doubling of roles inside or across plays?
(You might wish to talk students through this; for
example, Alano Miller plays Elegba in both In the Red
and Brown Water and The Brothers Size, as well as
Marcus in Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet; Heather Alicia
Simms portrays Mama Moja, The Woman Who Reminds
You, and Nia in In the Red and Brown Water and Oba in
Marcus.)
o For actors who play the same role across plays, (such as
Marc Damon Johnson who plays Ogun Size in all three
plays and Kimberly Hébert Gregory who plays Aunt
Elegua in two of three plays) how do their characters and
the characterization of their roles develop across plays?
3. “…WRITE FOR [YOURSELF], AS A SOURCE FOR PEOPLE WHO WOULD UNDERSTAND
[YOU] INSTANTLY…” At the age of 14, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney
became a member of a teenage troupe that taught HIV awareness and
prevention through theater at youth rehabilitation and detention centers. He
notes that he and his peers created theatrical presentations that reflected
their “own complex lives at home,” contained “dark secrets,” offered
opportunities for “sharing moments that made them feel as if they weren’t
alone,” and lead, ultimately, to a greater sense of community among his peers
and the youth for whom they performed. McCraney writes of that experience,
“I began to write for myself as a source for people who would understand me
instantly…”
ƒ Ask your students to consider what personal stories they might
share with their peers to make them “feel as if they weren’t alone”
or to cultivate a greater sense of community. Ask them what could
they write for themselves that could be understood instantly by their
peers?
ƒ Have your students, either alone or in groups, dramatize (i.e.,
script) their stories for the ears, eyes, and edification of their
classmates. Have them consider how they might use myth,
movement, and/or music in the manner of Tarell Alvin McCraney as
forms of inspiration and expression. If appropriate, students may
volunteer their scenes to be read aloud or performed by members
of the class.
ƒ Following scene presentations, ask both playwrights and audience
to reflect on their experiences of writing and listening/viewing the
scenes.
4. THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS: THE REVIEW. Have your students take on the
role of theater critic by writing a review of McCarter Theatre’s production of In
the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, or Marcus; or The Secret of
Sweet—or perhaps the entire Brother/Sister trilogy. A theater critic or
reviewer is essentially a “professional audience member,” whose job is to
provide reportage of a play’s production and performance through active and
descriptive language for a target audience of readers (e.g., their peers, their
community, or those interested in the arts). Critics/reviewers analyze the
theatrical event to provide a clearer understanding of the artistic ambitions
and intentions of a play and its production; reviewers often ask themselves,
“What is the playwright and this production attempting to do?” Finally, the
critic offers personal judgment as to whether the artistic intentions of a
production were achieved, effective and worthwhile. Things to consider
before writing:
ƒ
Theater critics/reviewers should always back up their opinions
with reasons, evidence and details.
ƒ
The elements of production that can be discussed in a theatrical
review are the play text or script (and its themes, plot,
characters, etc.), scenic elements, costumes, lighting, sound,
music, acting and direction (i.e., how all of these elements are
put together). [See the Theater Reviewer’s Checklist.]
ƒ
Educators may want to provide their students with sample
theater reviews from a variety of newspapers.
ƒ
Encourage your students to submit their reviews to the school
newspaper for publication.
ƒ
Students may also post their reviews on McCarter’s web site by
visiting McCarter Blog. Select “Citizen Responses” under
“Categories” on the left side of the web page, and scroll down to
the The Brother/Sister Plays entry to post any reviews.
5. BLOG ALL ABOUT IT!: THE DAY AFTER THE SHOW.. McCarter Theatre is very
interested in carrying on the conversation about The Brother/Sister Plays in
performance and the work of playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney with you and
your students after you’ve left the theater. If you are interested in having
them personally reflect upon their experience of the play(s) in performance,
but are not interested in the more formal assignment of review writing, have
them instead post a post-show comment on the McCarter Theatre Blog. To
access the blog, click on this link McCarter Blog , then select “Citizen
Responses” under “Categories” on the left side of the web page, and scroll
down to the The Brother/Sister Plays entry to find a place to post an inquiry or
comment. [For structured responses, consider the following prompt: What
expectations did you bring with you to The Brother/Sister Plays and were your
expectations met, not met, or exceeded by the performance?] See you on
the blog!
Sponsored by:
The Joyce and Seward Johnson Foundation, and THE MAP FUND, a program of
Creative Capital, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the
Rockefeller Foundation.
Development of The Brother/Sister Plays sponsored by Princeton University’s
Lewis Center for the Arts.
Marcus: or The Secret of Sweet is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New
American Plays Award
A McCarter Theatre production | Venue: Berlind Theatre
AUDIENCE GUIDE STAFF: Editors for Literary Content: Carrie Hughes, Adam
Immerwahr | Editor for Education Content: Paula Alekson | Editorial
Administrator: Francine Schiffman | Web Design: Dimple Parmar | Contributors:
Paula T. Alekson, Erin Breznitsky, Carrie Hughes, Adam Immerwahr, Emily
Mann, Patrick T. McKelvey, Anthony Sanford.